This is Home
by elang4
Summary: Another twin fic. Lorelai had twins instead of just Rory. Follow Lily and Rory as they overcome obstacles and find love. Also, Luke and Lorelai are already together in this. Begins during the episode where Jess arrives.
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I know I've been rubbish but I have really been struggling with writer's block recently and coming up with ideas. Plus life has kind of got in the way as well. Anyway, I realised my best stories were the ones when Lorelai had twins instead of just Rory and I've realised I enjoy writing those the stories the most.**

**So this is another twin story but with a twist. In this one, Lorelai and Luke are already together and have been for a few years. This will start during the episode that Jess appears for the first time. Oh and in this one, Rory and Dean stayed broken up after the first break up. I hope you are all still with me and I hope you enjoy it! :)**

Chapter 1

"Can I come with you to meet him at the bus?" Lily asked.

"And let you skive school? Your mom would kill me." Luke said.

"Please?" She begged.

"Nope."

"Please?" She pouted.

"That's not going to work." Luke said.

Lily sighed as Lorelai came rushing into the diner. "I need doughnuts. Your sister is driving me crazy! Seriously, who wants to get to school like an hour early?" She exclaimed.

"Rory." Lily laughed.

"What are you two talking about anyway?" She asked.

"Luke's nephew's coming to stay." Lily told her.

"Oh that's cool!" Lorelai smiled. "How long for?"

"Unknown." Luke said.

"What?" She said confused.

"It's Liz. She can't handle him so she's sending him to me to straighten out." He sighed.

"You? You can straighten him out?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows.

"You don't think I can do it?" He frowned.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just...do you know why she can't handle him? Do you think it's the best idea?" She said.

"Are you really trying to talk me out of this? He's family. You do things for family, no questions asked." Luke said gruffly.

"Ok, I respect that but..."

"But?" He raised his eyebrows.

Lorelai sighed. "But...I'm here if you need any help."

"Thank you." Luke smiled gratefully. "Doughnuts. And coffee to go." He said handing a takeaway bag to her.

"Thank you." She smiled. "See you later?"

"Of course." He nodded before watching her go.

"I think you can handle it." Lily said.

"Thanks." Luke said. He glanced at her. "You're still not skiving off school." He said.

"Worth a try." She shrugged.

Luke smirked. "Here. Pancakes to go. Now get to school." He said.

"Yes sir!" She grinned. "Bye Luke!"

"Bye." Luke said shaking his head as he watched her go.

* * *

"Is he here?" Lily asked as she came into the diner later that day.

"Why aren't you at school?" Luke said.

"It's lunch." She said.

"And I repeat, why aren't you at school? You forget I used to go to Stars Hollow High School and I know for a fact you're not allowed to leave the school premises, even at lunch." He said.

"I just want to meet him." Lily sighed. "Please Luke? I will get back before afternoon lessons, I promise."

Luke sighed but smiled slightly. "Well you're out of luck anyway. Jess is out."

"Out where?" She asked.

"I don't know. He just went out." He shrugged.

"Huh. Well at least he won't get lost here." She said.

"Oh wait, here he is." Luke said spotting Jess come in.

"This town is crazy." Jess grumbled.

"You didn't give me a chance to warn you about that." Luke said. "Jess, this is Lily by the way. She's the daughter of the woman I'm dating." He said.

"Hey!" Lily grinned.

"Hey." He nodded.

"So you've discovered there's nothing to do here huh?" She laughed.

"What is it with every mother and daughter wearing matching outfits?" Jess said.

Lily grinned. "The uniqueness of Stars Hollow. Welcome!"

"Thanks." He grumbled.

"I promise it has its good points as well." Lily said.

"Yeah? Like what?" Jess said.

"Well some of the people are alright." She shrugged.

He glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Yeah?" He said.

"Yeah." She grinned. "And I can promise you, me and my sister never wear matching outfits with our mom."

"Good to know." He said.

"Now Lily is going back to school." Luke said pointedly. "Before her mom kills me."

"I've got lots of time yet." Lily protested.

"No you don't." He said gesturing out the window where Lorelai was walking towards the diner.

"Oh shoot!" She said. "See you later! Welcome to Stars Hollow, Jess!" She grinned and then rushed out.

"So that was Lily..." Luke told Jess.

"I see that." He nodded. He glanced at her. "So...you're dating her mom?" He asked.

"Yep. A few years now. But I've known them since Lily and Rory were kids." He said. "You can meet Lorelai now." He said as Lorelai entered the diner.

"Great." He said dryly.

* * *

"So what's he like?" Rory asked both Lily and her mom as they walked home together after school.

"He seems cool." Lily said.

"Really?" Lorelai laughed.

"What?" Lily said confused.

"He wasn't exactly very chatty when I met him." She said.

"Did you go way over the top with him?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"What does that mean?" Lorelai said.

"You know what I mean." Lily said.

"I was perfectly nice." She defended herself.

"Uh huh."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" She said.

"He just moved here. You just need to give him a chance." Lily said.

"I know. Which is why I invited Luke and Jess over tomorrow night for a little gathering. I invited Sookie and Jackson too." Lorelai said.

"Aw that's sweet!" Rory smiled.

"Yeah, that's cool, mom." Lily smiled.

"Yeah, well I am the coolest." She joked.

"You are." Lily grinned.

* * *

Lily was walking along the hallway at school the following day when she spotted Jess leaning against some lockers. She walked up to him. "Luke got you enrolled quick then?" She said.

Jess looked up at her. "Yeah. Lucky me." He said dryly.

"Not a fan of school, huh?" She said.

"Not exactly the model student." Jess said.

"Yeah, me neither." Lily admitted.

"Not a fan?"

"I don't mind it. I'm just not an avid student like Rory." Lily said. "She wants to go to Harvard."

"Ambitious." Jess commented.

"She'll do it. It's just...not for me." Lily shrugged. "I'd much rather work in the diner with Luke." She admitted.

"You help out at the diner?" Jess asked surprised.

"Only at weekends, and the odd evening." She said. "I enjoy working with Luke, it's fun."

"Fun?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Ok, I know Luke doesn't seem like the fun type." She laughed. "But he's cool. And he's done a lot for my mom and for us. You're lucky to have him."

"Huh." Jess said.

"So I hear you guys are coming over to ours tonight." Lily said.

"Yeah, your mom didn't give me much of a choice." He said.

"She just wants to make you feel welcome."

Jess just shrugged. "Would rather get a choice of where I go and when." He said.

"So you don't want to come?"

Jess glanced at her. "Didn't say that."

"I get that you probably didn't want to move here and that you're angry about it and stuff. But it's not too bad here." Lily said. "I know it seems crazy and there are quite a few characters here but they all mean well."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Don't I look trustworthy?" She grinned.

"Maybe." He smirked slightly.

"Then believe me." Lily said. "And I'll see you tonight!" She grinned as she walked off. "Go to your lessons!" She called as she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Lily's eyes widened as she watched her mom and Luke argue in the kitchen about something that had just happened with Jess that evening. She watched Luke storm out of the house and Lorelai storm off into the living room.

"What just happened?" Rory said.

"I don't know." Lily said. "But I'm going to find out." She said heading outside to the back porch. "What just happened?" She demanded, seeing Jess standing there with a beer.

"Your mom's a whack job." Jess grumbled.

"Hey!" Lily frowned.

"What?" He snapped. "What gives her the right to lecture me on what I should do and how I should act? She knows shit about me! No one does!"

"Look, I get that you're angry ok? But dissing my mom is not cool." Lily frowned. "I'm sure she was only trying to help."

Jess scoffed. "She should stay out of my business!"

"Lily." Lorelai said appearing out on the porch. "Come back inside."

"I was just talking to Jess." Lily said.

"I see that. But I want you to come inside now please." He said.

Lily sighed and glanced at Jess. "Jess..."

"Go. Do what your mom says like a good girl." He mocked.

Lily frowned. "You know what? I actually thought you were alright. A little bitter and angry but who wouldn't be in your situation but I didn't think you could be cruel. Maybe my mom's right. Maybe I should stay away from you." She snapped.

"Cool with me." Jess grumbled.

Lily just shook her head. "Have a good life, Jess." She said before following her mom inside.

Jess watched her go inside and sighed. He left the beer on the side and started walking away from the house towards the diner where he knew he was probably going to get a bollocking from Luke.

* * *

The following morning, Jess saw Rory and Lily walk into the diner. He spotted Lorelai hovering outside. He moved a bit closer, head in his book to make it look like he wasn't eavesdropping but he listened to how they were clearly trying to get their mom a danish. Luke wasn't buying it though and insisted that they sit their and eat their danishes and then he would give him another one which they could eat infront of him.

"You're seriously going to watch us eat a danish?" Lily said.

"Yeah come on, Luke! Mom's sorry. We know she is. Can't you guys make up?" Rory said.

"Yeah, you know what mom's like. Please?" Lily said.

Luke sighed. "If she wants a danish, she can come in and order it herself." He said.

"And you'd let her have one?" Lily said cautiously.

"Yes, I'll let her have one." He said.

She smiled. "We'll let her know!"

"Yeah, thanks Luke!" Rory smiled.

"I can take one out to her if you want." Jess found himself speaking.

"What?" Luke said surprised.

Jess shrugged. "She's hovering outside. It's no big deal." He said.

Luke looked at him for a moment and then just shook his head. "I don't get you sometimes. But alright." He said. He glanced at Lily and Rory. "Tell your mom we're fine." He told them before disappearing to the kitchen.

Lily glanced at Jess and frowned. "Why would you do that?" She said.

"Like I said, she's outside. It's no big deal." Jess shrugged.

"You hate our mom." She said.

"I never said that." He said.

"What was it you said last night? Oh yeah, your mom's a whack job and she has no business telling me what to do." Lily snapped.

"I was angry." He said.

"Clearly."

"And apparently I'm a goody two shoes." Lily grumbled.

"How about I take the danish out to mom?" Rory said. "Lil, you ok?" She checked.

"I'm fine." She nodded.

Rory nodded, grabbed the danish and left.

Lily glanced at Jess. "What?" She said as she saw him watching her.

"Nothing."

"Great." She said dryly. "I should get to school. You probably should to." She said. "Not that I care..." She said getting up.

"Look, I'm sorry ok?" He sighed.

Lily stopped and glanced at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"No, I heard you. I just wanted to make sure I heard you correctly." She said, her lips twitching slightly.

"Ok, very funny." Jess rolled his eyes.

"It amused me." Lily shrugged.

"I was angry yesterday and I don't react well to people telling me how to act. Your mom...well she just got in my firing line. And so did you. I'm sorry ok?" He said.

"Ok." Lily said.

"Ok?" He checked.

"Well I believe in second chances." She shrugged.

"Ok." Jess said. "Thanks."

Lily glanced at him for a moment. "Thanks. For apologising." She said. He just nodded. "I should get going." She said.

"Walk you there?" He offered.

"Wow, you really are trying!" She teased.

Jess smirked. "I'm hoping you may still let me borrow some of your books." He joked.

"Ah, I knew there must have been a motive!" Lily laughed.

"So...shall we?" He said.

"Lead the way." She said. She smiled slightly as she watched Jess start heading outside. He held the door open for her.

"After you." He said.

"Why thank you." She smiled.

**So I hoped you liked this! Let me know if you'd like me to continue! :) Thank you for all your continued support and I look forward to reading what you think. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for you continue support! :) Hope you're enjoying this!**

Chapter 2

"I can't believe you told her we would do it!" Lily groaned as she and Rory headed into Luke's later that day.

"It made Grandma happy." Rory said.

"I know but why do we have to do that to make her happy?" Lily said.

"Do what?" Jess said appearing from through the curtains.

"Why is your hair wet?" Lily said.

"Luke pushed me into the lake." He said.

"What?" Rory laughed.

"I'm glad it amuses you." He said dryly.

"Why did he push you in the lake?" Lily grinned.

"Because he's crazy, that's why." Jess grumbled.

"Sure.." Lily said.

"Plus he was being annoying so I told him to stop and he was going on about some bridge money that Taylor thought I stole." He said.

"And did you?" She asked.

"Did I what?"

"Steal the money." Lily said.

Jess looked at her. "Do you think I did?"

She shrugged. "You're angry at everyone at the moment. You could have done it just to piss Taylor off. Which I don't blame you by the way." She said.

"But we don't condone stealing." Rory added quickly.

"Well obviously..." Lily rolled her eyes. "But I get that Taylor is crazy." She grinned.

"Oh yeah, very crazy!" Rory nodded.

"Ok..." Jess said, shaking his head slightly.

"So where's Luke now?" Lily asked looking round.

"No idea. He wasn't here when I got back." Jess said.

Lily grinned at Rory. "One guess where he is right now!"

Rory grinned back. "With mom."

"I bet you anything." She nodded.

"So what were you two talking about when you came in?" He asked.

"Oh, well someone told our Grandma that we would both take part in this coming out ceremony." Lily said.

"You said yes to her!" Rory defended.

"No, you said yes on both of our behalf." Lily pointed out.

"Yeah but you didn't protest."

"Like I could!"

"Look, it's one night. We can cope with it for one night." Rory said.

"You do know we need escorts for these debutante things right?" Lily said.

"What? How do you know that?"

"Read the pamphlet on the way home." She said.

"Oh, well, I'm sure Grandma could get us two. You know what sort of contacts she has."

"So not only are we having to dress up for this thing and do humiliating dances but we have to spend the whole evening with some preppy rich boys as well. Great!" Lily said sarcastically.

"Come on, Lil. You saw how happy it made Grandma and you know she's not been herself lately. Didn't it make you even a little bit good knowing you were the reason she was smiling?" Rory said.

She sighed. "I guess..."

"We can deal with it for one evening." Rory said.

"Speak for yourself. You know dad has to give us away right? There's no way he will show up for it." Lily said.

"You never know..."

"There's no chance." Lily repeated.

"So do you have to dress up fancy for this thing?" Jess smirked.

"Shut up." Lily frowned at him. "Stop enjoying my pain."

"You enjoyed my pain at being pushed into a lake." He pointed out.

"Yeah but you probably deserved that pain. I don't!" She said. "Hey, you're a guy!" She suddenly said.

"Nope, I'm not escorting you to this thing." He said immediately.

"But..."

"Nope."

"Jess!"

"Nope. I'm going to go dry my hair." He said disappearing upstairs.

"Jess!" Lily called after him but to no avail. She saw Rory laughing. "What?"

"Did you seriously just ask Jess to be your escort?" She smirked.

"It was worth a try." She grumbled.

"I bet this is something that will cheer you up." Rory said.

"What?" She said confused.

"Look." She said gesturing out of the window.

Lily turned and saw Luke and their mom heading towards the diner and they were chatting and laughing together. "They made up!" She grinned.

"Looks like it." Rory smiled.

"You're right, that has cheered me up." She smiled.

"Look, I know this isn't your kind of thing. It's not mine either. But it will make Grandma so happy so I'm sure we can do it for one evening." Rory said.

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed.

"I'll buy you a doughnut." Rory said.

"Now you're talking!" Lily grinned.

* * *

Lily glared at Jess as she left Miss Patty's studio. "Don't." She told him.

"You looked great." Jess smirked.

"I'm going to fall on the dance floor. I stepped on his feet so many times!" Lily exclaimed.

"So they're the preppy rich kids you're going with then huh?" He said casually.

"Yep. They're not actually that bad." Lily admitted.

"Oh yeah?" Jess said.

"Yeah. They're actually quite cool. But they've done this before so they know what to do. I'm rubbish." She said.

"You're not rubbish." He said.

"Uh were you actually watching me in there?" She said.

"You looked good." He shrugged.

"Ok what are you after?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm hurt you would think that." Jess said.

"You never compliment me so you must be after something." Lily smirked.

"I was wondering whether you could talk to Luke." He admitted.

"There it is!" She grinned triumphantly.

"Yeah yeah alright." He rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." She smirked. "Talk to Luke about what?"

"Whether he can get off my back." He said.

"Nope." She said immediately.

"What?" Jess said.

"I'm not getting in the middle of you and Luke." Lily said.

"Why not?"

"It's not my business." She said.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Really, you're sulking now?" She teased.

"By the way, your dancing was rubbish." He said.

Lily grinned. "You are sulking!"

"Whatever. I need to go to the diner." He grumbled.

"What, so Luke doesn't get on your back?" She teased.

"Bye." Jess said.

"Not so fast!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm on shift too. You've got me all afternoon." Lily grinned.

"Great." He said dryly.

* * *

"I thought Lily wasn't closing today?" Lorelai said as she, Chris and Rory sat on the couch at the Crap Shack.

"She isn't." Rory said.

"So where is she then?"

"Why don't you ring your boyfriend and ask him?" Chris commented.

Lorelai just rolled her eyes. "Seriously though, I thought she was finishing at 5?"

"She's meant to be." Rory nodded.

"So where is she then? I want to start this movie night!" She pouted.

"She probably just got distracted chatting to Jess and lost track of time. I'm sure she'll be here soon." Rory said.

"I don't know why she bothers with him." She harrumphed.

"Mom..."

"What? I know guys like Jess. He's bad news." Lorelai said.

"You don't know him." Rory said.

"And you do?" Chris asked.

"I've spoken to him more than mom and he seems alright to me. Lily likes him and she normally has a good judgement of character." She said.

"He's bad news." Lorelai repeated.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Chris offered. "Warn him off?"

"Seriously?" Rory laughed.

"What?" He said confused.

"Lily would really take that well." She pointed out.

"But if your mom says he's bad news, then she shouldn't be hanging out with him. I don't understand why she even works at that diner anyway." He commented.

"Because she likes working with Luke." Rory said. "She enjoys it."

"Hmm." Chris said quietly as the front door suddenly opened.

"See, here she is! We can start Casablanca now." Rory said hoping to change the subject now Lily was home.

"Sorry! I lost track of time." Lily said rushing in.

"Movie time!" Rory grinned. "Start it up, mom."

"On it!" Lorelai grinned.

* * *

Luke looked up the following evening as the bells rang under the door of the diner and he smiled as he saw Lorelai, Rory and Lily walk in and collapse at a table. "Back from the ball?" He asked walking over to them.

"Yes, I left behind a glass slipper and a business card in case the prince is really dumb." Lorelai grinned.

"Good and desperate thinking." He said dryly. "How was it?" He asked.

"Humiliating." Lily said.

"Yep, definitely humiliating." Rory nodded. "But it was alright."

"Good." Luke nodded. "Burgers?" He asked.

"You know us so well." Lily grinned.

Luke chuckled. "Be right back." He said.

"Wait up, I'll come with you." Lorelai said following him up to the counter.

"So, doing it to cheer up Grandma kind of crashed and burnt huh?" Lily said.

Rory sighed. "She was so looking forward to it and she ended up being so miserable."

Lily sighed. "I'm sure she still appreciated it." She said.

"Yeah?" Rory said quietly.

Lily smiled at her sister. "It was a nice thing to agree to. I know you had to talk me into it but I'm glad we did it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Gave us a glimpse into what mom had to do."

"Yeah I guess so." Rory said. "And it was nice to have dad around..." She said cautiously.

"Sure." Lily said.

"He seems pretty settled with Sherry."

"Seems it." She shrugged.

"You don't believe it will last?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. Maybe." Lily shrugged. "But he seemed jealous about mom and Luke. You never know with him."

"Well I thought he seemed different this time. He seemed happy." Rory said.

Lily glanced at her. "Maybe he is." She said. "And you know what, I guess mom seemed a bit jealous about Sherry as well." She said. " So I guess we'll see."

"Yeah." She said.

Just then, Lorelai and Luke came back over with the burgers.

"Thanks hon." Lorelai smiled at Luke.

"No problem." He smiled. "Enjoy."

"Hmm, Luke..." She said.

"What?" He said.

Lorelai nodded towards Jess, who was wiping down the counter dressed like Luke, complete with flannel shirt and backwards baseball cap. She glanced at Lily who she heard stifle a laugh as Luke walked over to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke said.

"Working." Jess said.

"So you think this is funny, huh?"

"I'm sorry. I thought this was the uniform."

"Ok, you know what, that's fine. Have your little joke, you know. It doesn't bother me at all. You just go over there and clean off that table, ok? I'm ignoring you. You do not exist." Luke said.

"Ok." Jess said glancing over at Lily, his lips twitching slightly. He went over to the table and started cleaning it off.

"That's it, get upstairs and change." Luke said after a moment.

"Whatever you say, Uncle Luke." He said, glancing at Lily again and smirking slightly, causing Lily to stifle another laugh.

"It's Luke, just Luke. Mister Luke. In fact, don't address me at all!" Luke called after him as Jess headed upstairs.

"You know, I'm really lucky." Lorelai said turning to her daughters.

"Yeah, why?" Rory said.

"I have someone to complain to when life sucks or work sucks or just everything sucks. I have someone I can talk to." She smiled at them both.

"Yeah, who?" Lily joked.

"Ha ha." She said sarcastically. "It just must be really lonely not to have that." She added.

"Are you thinking about Grandma?" Rory asked.

"I'm just...thinking." She shrugged.

"Yeah...it must be hard." Lily said, subtly glancing towards the curtain that headed upstairs to Luke's apartment.

"Anyway, let's tuck into these so we can get some pie! We deserve pie!" Lorelai grinned.

"Absolutely!" Rory nodded.

"We always deserve pie!" Lily grinned and the three of them started tucking into their burgers.

**So I hope you liked it! Sorry it's a bit shorter but I wanted to get something up for you guys. I really hope you like it and I would love to know what you think so if you would like to, please leave a review. Your support means so much to me so thank you! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all your support so far! I'm enjoying writing this so I hope you're enjoying reading it. :)**

Chapter 3

Lily looked up as the bells to the diner rang and she suddenly beamed when she saw who she was. "Mia!" She exclaimed, rushing from behind the counter and hugging her.

"Lily!" Mia smiled. "It's so good to see you."

"You too! What are you doing here?" She exclaimed.

"Just visiting." She said. "You're working here now?" She asked.

"For about a year now, yeah." Lily nodded.

"Who is that?" Jess asked Luke as he came out of the kitchen.

Luke looked up and smiled. "That's Mia."

"Mia?"

"She owns Lorelai's inn." He explained. "She was running it when Lorelai first arrived here. She gave her a job and somewhere for them all to live."

"Huh." Jess said.

"Come on. Let me introduce you." He smiled heading towards Mia. "Mia, hey!" He said.

"Lucas!" She smiled warmly, hugging him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Hey, do you know anything about toasters by any chance?" He asked.

"Not a thing." Mia laughed.

"Then sit down and I'll get you some food." Luke smiled.

"Can I borrow your employee for a minute?" She asked.

"Of course. Take all the time you need." He smiled.

"Thanks Luke." Lily smiled. "Oh hey, Mia, this is Jess. He's Luke's nephew." She said.

"Liz's son?" Mia asked Luke.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well it's very nice to meet you." She smiled at Jess.

"Sure." Jess nodded. "You don't need me down here anymore do you?" He said to Luke before walking off.

Lily frowned as he walked away.

"Sorry Mia, he's still...trying to settle in." Luke sighed.

"It's alright. He reminds me of you as a teenager." She said her eyes twinkling.

"Oh yeah, you knew Luke as a boy!" Lily grinned.

"And that is my chance to leave..." Luke said and he headed back to the kitchen.

"So you two are still going strong then?" Mia smiled at Lorelai.

Lorelai ducked her head slightly. "Yeah, we're good." She said.

"I'm so happy for you both." She said.

"Thanks Mia." She said softly. "I can't believe it's been three years already." She admitted.

"Three years? Wow...time really has flown by." Mia said. "So...you haven't thought about moving in together then?" She asked.

"Oh..uh.." Lorelai said. "We haven't really talked about it."

"Really?" Mia said surprised.

"We..uh..have reasons." She said subtly glancing at Rory and Lily.

"Ah." Mia said suddenly understanding. "Well I'm glad things are going well."

"Thanks." Lorelai said grateful that she was dropping the subject.

"So how long are you visiting for, Mia?" Lily asked.

* * *

Lily was walking down the street when she spotted a crowd outside Doose's. "What's going on?" She asked Lane as she walked up to it.

"Seems like someone has played a prank on Taylor." Lane said gesturing to a chalk outline on the sidewalk.

"A phoney murder?" Lily exclaimed.

"Looks like it." Lane said. "Taylor's furious. Whoever did this has definitely got their reaction." She laughed.

Lily glanced across the crowd and spotted Jess across the road, leaning on a lamppost. "Oh I think I know who did this." She rolled her eyes. "See you later?"

"Sure, see you later." Lane smiled.

Lily wandered over to Jess. "A phoney murder? Really?"

"Who says it was me?" He smirked.

"Who else would do something to aggravate Taylor?" Lily said.

"Well you and Rory both said that everyone finds him crazy. So that leaves a huge line of suspects." Jess shrugged.

"Sure. And we both know you did it." She shook her head. "Do you always have to do things to aggravate the town? Can't you just blend in for once?" She said.

"What fun would that be?" He smirked.

"Well kudos on the reaction. You definitely got that." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Thanks." He smirked. "So...did you think it was funny?" He asked.

"That's not point!" Lily said.

"You did. You thought it was funny!"

Lily smirked slightly. "You're something else, you know that right?"

"Thanks."

Lily just shook her head. "I have to go. See you around."

"Yeah see you." He said.

* * *

"Mia was asking today why we hadn't moved in together yet..." Lorelai told Luke as they sat in the living room at the Crap Shack later that day.

"Yeah? What did you say?" He said.

"Not much. Rory and Lily were sat right next to us." She sighed.

"Ah." He said.

"I tried to be subtle and I think she understood but..."

"But what?" Luke said.

"I don't know...it got me thinking." She admitted.

"About moving in together?" He asked cautiously.

"Kind of." She said. "I know we said we wouldn't until Rory and Lily go off to college..."

"You didn't want to make them uncomfortable. We both don't." He said.

"I know." She sighed. "I just...I miss you when I don't see you." She admitted.

"You do?" He smiled slightly.

"Yeah alright! Lap it up!" Lorelai rolled her eyes.

Luke smirked. "I miss you too." He said. "But now we have another thing to consider..."

"Jess..." Lorelai said.

"Yeah...Jess..." Luke sighed.

"Why can't things be simple? We've been together for three years. Most couples would be living together by now..." She said.

"I know." He said putting his arms round her. "We will get there. We just have to be patient."

"You guys haven't moved in together because of us?" A voice said.

They whipped round to see Lily and Rory stood there.

"Lil, Ror..." Lorelai said.

"You guys haven't moved in together yet because of us?" Lily said shocked.

"It's not that simple..." Lorelai said.

"It sounds pretty simple to me!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lil..."

"No, this is crap! We're 17. We're old enough to understand that couples who have been dating for a few years do tend to move in together..." Lily said.

"We didn't want to make you two feel uncomfortable." Luke said.

"And now we've got Jess in the equation as well. It's not just about you two." Lorelai tried to explain.

"You know we wouldn't have minded, right?" Rory said quietly.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"I should leave you to it." Luke said.

"No. Stay, please." Lorelai said. "We were all going to go to the town meeting together. We were going to meet Mia."

"I don't want to intrude." Luke said.

"It's fine." Lily said. She sighed. "I'm sorry. It was just a shock to hear that we're the reason you won't move in together..."

"Lil..." Lorelai said softly.

"Did you really think we'd have a problem with it?" Lily said hurt.

"No. But we always had that 'no men in the house rule'." She said. "It's been us three against the world for so long."

"Mom, that changed years ago." Rory said softly.

"What?" She said confused.

"Mom, as soon as you met Luke, he was in our life." Lily said. "He didn't just become your constant. He became ours too." She said quietly, glancing over at Luke who looked stunned.

"He did?" Lorelai said surprised.

"Mom, you forget we have our own relationship with Luke. He looked out for us. Not because he obviously had a thing for you but because he did actually care about us. He was the first guy in your life who actually treated us like adults." Lily said softly.

"Yeah, it wasn't an obligation for him." Rory added.

"Exactly. And it felt nice." Lily admitted.

"Wow..." Lorelai said quietly.

"We love Luke, mom." Lily said. "If moving in together will make you happy, then you should do it."

"Yeah, he practically lives with us anyway." Rory said.

"Look, we're both touched by what you're saying..." Lorelai said.

"Yeah. We are." Luke said gruffly, finally speaking.

"But we still have Jess to consider." She said.

"Right...and you think he won't want to move..." Lily sighed.

"We're not exactly the biggest fans of each other..." She said carefully. "Plus, it hasn't been that long since he's moved here..."

"Plus you hate him..." Lily said quietly.

"Lily!"

"What? It's true..." She said. She sighed. "At least think about it. Please?"

Lorelai sighed but glanced at Luke. "I guess we could have another serious think about it..." She said.

Luke glanced at her and smiled. "Yeah. We can."

"Great!" Rory smiled. "Now let's get to the town meeting or we'll be late!" She said.

* * *

"I can't believe they would do that to Luke!" Lily exclaimed as she, Lorelai, Rory and Mia were walking out of the town meeting later that evening.

"Yeah...well..." Lorelai sighed.

"Do you think he's ok?" She asked.

"He just needs to calm down a bit." Lorelai assured him.

"I need to go do something. I'll meet you at home." Lily said storming off.

"She seems upset." Mia said.

Lorelai sighed. "Well, she seems to have formed a soft spot for the town's bad boy." She said.

"Who, Jess?" Mia said.

"Yep." She said.

"Ah." She said.

"I think she's more upset for Luke at the moment..." Rory said.

"She'll be fine." Lorelai assured them.

Meanwhile, Lily stormed to Luke's apartment and knocked on the door. She barged past Jess as he opened it. "You don't care about anyone, do you?" She exclaimed angrily.

"What?" He said.

"You don't care about anyone! You're rude to people, you aggravate the whole town and you don't care about the repercussions at all!" She snapped.

"Ok, back up, what's all this about?" Jess said.

"You! You're selfish, you're obnoxious and you don't care about other people's feelings! You were rude to Mia when she was trying to be nice to you, you deliberately did that stupid prank to annoy everyone and now Luke and our mom won't move in together because of you!" Lily exclaimed.

"Ok...uh..do you want me to commit you or...?" He said.

"Of course. You don't care. Why would you? Why would you care that the whole town just ganged up on Luke because they want you out? You don't! You don't care about anyone other than yourself. You don't care that Luke stood up at that town meeting and defended you, you don't care that I did the same and even my mom did it! You don't care that Luke is becoming the town's outcast because of you! If you hate us all that much, why don't you just go home?" She snapped.

"Are you finished?" Jess said.

Lily let out a big breath. "Yes." She said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Good. Firstly...you defended me?" He said smirking slightly.

"Forget it!" Lily shook her head and turning to leave.

"Ok, I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't know the town was coming down so hard on Luke, ok?"

"Really? Funny. I didn't peg you as clueless." Lily said sarcastically.

Jess sighed. "As for Mia, I wasn't deliberately rude to her. Luke told me what she did for you guys and I actually think that's really cool of her. And as for Luke and your mom moving in together, they can do what they like." He said.

"They don't want to move in because they don't want to uproot you again." Lily said.

"I'm pretty sure your mom doesn't care about how I feel." Jess pointed out.

Lily frowned. "Maybe you two don't exactly get on but Luke cares about you. You know they weren't moving in together because me and Rory? Luke was worried it would make us uncomfortable. Three years they've been going out and they haven't taken the next step because of us. And now you're here and you're not even trying!" She exclaimed.

"Luke should just kick me out then. Send me back." Jess shrugged. "The town obviously want it, I think your mom would be ecstatic and from the impression I'm getting from you, you probably wouldn't care either."

Lily let out a breath. "I didn't say that." She said.

"Really? Because you seem to be giving that impression right now." He said.

"Look, I care about Luke ok? And I don't like seeing him get attacked like he was tonight. He doesn't deserve it. He's done a lot for me and Rory and a lot for my mom and he doesn't deserve this." Lily sighed.

"I didn't know they were coming down so hard on him." Jess said. He saw Lily giving him a look. "I'm being serious. The prank thing was just to annoy Taylor. I didn't realise they'd blame Luke for it."

"Yeah...well...Luke defends you so he's as bad as you are in their eyes." She said.

"Huh." He said.

Lily sighed. "Look, I'm sorry ok? I just...it made me so angry and I guess you were in my firing line."

"It's ok."

"I should get home." She said.

"Ok."

"Ok."

"See you tomorrow. Well...unless the town banish me." Jess said.

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Sorry." He smirked.

"See you tomorrow." Lily sighed. She hesitated before reaching the door and turned round. "Just for the record, I would care if you left..." She said.

"Huh.." He said.

"And that prank...it was kind of funny." She admitted, smiling slightly.

"I knew it." Jess smirked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "See you tomorrow." She said.

Jess watched her leave and sat down on the couch.

* * *

The following morning, Rory and Lily were sat at the counter having breakfast. "Hey Luke, where's my toast?" Rory said.

"Sorry, I've only got the small toaster at the moment." Luke said.

"Still not managed to fix it?" Lily said knowing Luke had spent the whole day yesterday trying. Even she had had a go.

"Nope." He sighed. "I'll need to buy another one." He said just as Jess walked past and pushed the lever down and up, showing that it was infact fixed. "That was broken..." He said surprised.

"Huh, well it must have got better." Jess said.

"I spent all day trying to fix it and it was impossible." Luke said. "Jess, did you fix this?"

"I don't fix things." He said.

"Well who did then?" Luke said.

"Beats me." He shrugged, before disappearing to the kitchen, glancing at Lily before and noticing her give him a small smile.

"Guess it must have been the toaster fairy." Lily joked.

Luke watched Jess disappear into the kitchen and smiled slightly. "Yeah. Must have been." He said softly.

"Here." Luke said giving them their food. "Enjoy."

"Thanks Luke." Rory smiled.

A few minutes later, Jess came out of the kitchen to see that Rory and Lily had left. He glanced at Luke who was refilling the coffee jugs. "So...a little bird told me you and Lorelai weren't moving in because of me..." He said.

"What?" Luke said surprised. "Who told you that?"

"Doesn't matter. Just...someone that cares about you." He said.

Luke sighed. "Lily..."

"You shouldn't worry about me ok? It's your life. You should do what you want. I can move home if that's what you want." Jess shrugged.

Luke glanced at him in surprise. "You think I would just send you home?" He frowned.

"The whole town want me out. It would make life easier for you." Jess mumbled.

"Well, they're just going to have to deal with it. You're not going anywhere." He said gruffly.

"But you and Lorelai..."

"Can move in together when the time is right." Luke said.

"But that's not what you want, is it? Look, I might not be Lorelai's biggest fan but I can see you guys love each other. You should do it." He shrugged.

"What, so you'd move in with us too?" He said surprised.

"What?" It was Jess' turn to be surprised.

"Well, when we've discussed it before, we agreed that when it does happen, I'd move into hers." Luke admitted. "And...at the moment, I feel like I would come back from work and find either you or Lorelai burying the other person under the patio." He said.

Jess smirked slightly. "Huh..."

"It's not funny." Luke said.

"Look, you should move in ok? I can just stay here." Jess shrugged.

Luke glanced at him for a moment. "I can't." He said.

"Why not?"

"Because I told myself I would help you. I don't want to just abandon you." Luke said.

"You wouldn't be. You'd still be here all time making sure I'm on time for my shifts and going to school." Jess said.

"I don't know..." Luke hesitated.

"You love her right?"

"Of course!"

"Then don't let me stand in your way. Do it." Jess said.

Luke was quiet for a moment before looking at him. "Why are you saying this? Why do you suddenly care so much?"

"I don't really." He shrugged.

"Thanks." Luke said dryly.

"But it means a lot to Lily. You mean a lot to her. So...if I'm the only reason that you're not doing it, I'm telling you that you don't need to worry about me." He said.

"So...you're doing this for Lily?" Luke said carefully.

"She's been a good friend to me." He said.

"Right." He said.

"So?" Jess said.

"I'll think about it." Luke said.

"Ok."

"Ok."

"So...you need some help down here?" Jess said.

"You're voluntarily offering to help?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"Take it or leave it." He grumbled.

"Ok. You can clear off those tables over there." He said.

"Ok." He said walking off.

Luke watched him as he cleared off the tables and smiled slightly before heading into the kitchen.

**So I hoped you liked it! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. It's your support and comments that keep me motivated to keep writing. So thank you again! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry for the delay! My Grandma had to be taken into hospital this week so I had to rush up there to be with her so it's been a crazy busy week and I haven't had time to write. But I'm home now and hope you're all still with me. Please do let me know if you want me to continue with this. I'm really writing reading it so I do hope you're enjoying reading it. :)**

Chapter 4

Lily was walking out of Stars Hollow High School with Jess. "Free at last!" She grinned.

"Yup." Jess said.

"I love Christmas break. It's so wintry and beautiful here at this time." She grinned.

"Wintry, really?" Jess said smirking slightly.

"Alright Mr Sarcastic!" She rolled her eyes. "Well I like it. And hey, I thought you would be happy because it means no school for two weeks!" She said.

"That is a good point." He said as they walked past the snowman building competition. "It's good." He commented gesturing towards the snowwoman that Lorelai, Lily and Rory had been working on.

"You know which one is ours?" Lily said surprised.

"Definitely has the most character. Got a Bjorky feel to it." Jess said.

"That's what we were going for!" Lily grinned happily.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "But everyone thinks that one's going to win." She said pointing to the one at the end.

"Really? It's so overworked."

"That's what I said!"

"You should win. No question." Jess said.

"I agree." Lily grinned as they entered the diner. She immediately saw Lorelai, Skokie and Rory sat at a table looking forlorn. "What's happened?" She said.

"They cancelled." Lorelai said.

"Who?" Lily said.

"The people coming for the Bracebridge Dinner. They got snowed in." Lorelai said.

"Aw no!" Lily said knowing how hard their mom and Sookie had been working on this.

"See you later." Jess said heading to the stairs.

"Yeah see you." Lily waved at him and sat down with the others. "Well...can't we just do the dinner anyway? It would be a shame to waste the food." She said.

"Just for us?" Rory said. "It would be a little sad..."

"Hmm..." Lily said.

"Hang on, Lily might have a point!" Lorelai suddenly said.

"I do?"

"What if we invite everyone here?" She said.

"Everyone who?" Sookie said confused.

"Everyone here! In Stars Hollow. We could just do it for all of them! It'll be fun." She said getting excited.

Sookie's face lit up. "That could work!"

Lorelai grinned and glanced up at Luke who had brought their food over. "Spread the message!" She said.

"I haven't said I'm coming yet so I'm definitely not spreading the message." He said. He saw Lorelai give him a penetrating stare. "8?" He sighed.

"7." She said.

"Great." He said dryly walking off.

* * *

Once Lorelai, Sookie, Rory and Lily has left to keep making plans for the dinner, Luke closed up the diner and headed upstairs to the apartment. He found Jess lying on the couch reading a book.

"Hey, so Lorelai and Sookie are hosting this dinner for everyone in the town..." Luke said.

"Nope." Jess said immediately.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say." Luke said.

"You're not going to ask me to join you at this dinner thing then?" Jess said raising his eyebrows.

"Well..." Luke said before sighing. "Yeah..." He conceded.

"Then my answer still stands." He said.

"Come on, Jess." He tried to cajole him.

"Nope. I live in this town with these crazy people. I'm not going to sit through a dinner with them." He said.

"Lily and Rory will be there." Luke said.

Jess glanced up at him. "And you think that will persuade me how?" He said.

"You'll be able to hang out with them. Aren't you friends with them?" He said.

"Won't they be helping run this thing though?"

"Well, sure, probably a bit. But they'll still need to eat. And they won't need to be doing stuff all the time. Come on, Jess, I need to go for Lorelai. But it would be nice to have someone to mock this thing with." He said.

Jess smirked slightly. "I'll tell Lorelai you said that."

"You tell her and you're dead." Luke warned.

Jess smirked and got up off the couch with his book and started heading towards his bed. "Fine. But I'm not getting involved in any of the crazy things they probably have planned for this." He said.

"Ok deal." Luke said. "Oh and hey Jess?"

"What?"

"Your..uh..your mom rang. She reckoned it would be nice for you to spend Christmas break with her but I thought since you'd just moved here, it might be nice for you to spend it here with me. She really wanted to see you but she got it. If..uh..if that's ok with you?" He said hesitantly.

Jess looked at him for a moment. "Sure, whatever." He said. "I'm going to bed."

"Ok night." Luke said.

"Night."

* * *

"Ok, so did Bootsy RSVP?" Lorelai asked as she, Rory and Lily were sat in the living room sorting out the last details for the dinner.

"Yeah, he's coming." Rory nodded.

"Thanks. Is he bringing anybody?"

"Nope, he's coming solo."

"Ok. I'm going to put him in room 16 with Luke." Lorelai grinned.

"You can't do that." Lily laughed.

"Come on, let me have my fun." She said.

"Luke's coming with Jess." Lily pointed out.

"Well, I'll put Jess in with Miss Patty." She said.

"There will be no Jess left in the morning." Rory laughed.

"Not such a bad thing." Lorelai commented.

"Mom..." Lily sighed.

"What?" She shrugged.

"Are these last year's cards or this year's?" Rory asked changing the subject and picking up a pile of cards that were on the table.

"This year's, of course." Lorelai said affronted.

"Don't scoff. Last year's set were still sitting here until Halloween." Rory said.

"Hey, if that's a crack at my housekeeping skills...well then, ok." She shrugged.

"Oh hey, I didn't see this one." Rory said.

"See what?" Lily said.

"Dad." Rory said showing her sister the card.

"Oh." Lorelai said.

"And the woman I'm assuming is Sherry." Rory said looking closely at it.

"Did I not show you that? Huh." Lorelai said innocently.

"They've got a cute little puppy and everything." Lily commented.

"Oh, I must have put it in the stack and forgotten to tell you about it." Lorelai said.

"Uh huh." Lily said.

"Nice looking lady." Rory said.

"Hmm. Like a young Tammy Faye Baker." Lorelai said.

"But prettier than that."

"Oh, I didn't mean not pretty." She said. "Hey, question about the room list?"

"Yeah?"

"Room 31, why is it empty?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, we wanted to run an idea by you." Rory said glancing at Lily.

"Run it."

"We thought maybe a certain depressed man and his wife could stay there." She said.

"Woody and Soon-Yi?"

"Grandma and Grandpa." Lily said.

"Urgh, you've got to be kidding." She groaned.

"But this could help to cheer him up." Rory said.

"I'll send him a Def Jam Comedy tape. That'll cheer him up."

"It's a really good thing to do."

"We'll donate money to charity, that's a good thing too. We'll stop kicking dogs."

"Mom..."

"Alright fine, I'll pencil them in but they'll probably say no." She said.

"Yeah, but we're not going to hope that they say no, right?" Lily smirked.

"Right..." Lorelai said.

"Hey, has dad called at all by the way?" Rory asked.

"What dad, your dad?" She said.

"Yeah, our dad..." Rory said looking at her weirdly.

"Why?"

"Because he's our dad and he usually checks in this time of year and he hasn't checked in yet. I mean, I know he's probably busy with Sherry and the new apartment and..." Rory was saying but stopped when she saw their mom's guilty expression. "What?" She said.

"There may have been a call." She admitted.

"There may have been? You don't remember?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Well things have been so hectic, you know, with the Bracebridge Dinner, and..uh..building a snowwoman, that took time..." She rambled.

"Mom?" Rory said.

"Yes, he called! He called, he called, he called and invited you and it's not too late to go. He called and invited you, so there you go. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, so there." Lorelai blurted out.

"He invited us over?" Rory asked.

"Yes, are you deaf?"

"No, I'm just trying to separate the gist from the ububuh." She joked.

"Well, the gist is he invited you both, ok?" Lorelai said.

"Why didn't he invite us himself?" Lily frowned.

"Because he's pretending to be considerate by running it past me first." She sighed.

"Was he maybe not pretending to be considerate and actually being considerate?" Rory said.

"Maybe. But I wouldn't put it past him to be inconsiderate. The guy doesn't have the greatest track record."

"Why didn't you tell us this? He's probably waiting for our answer and holding off making plans." She said.

"Because I have dibs on this time of year with you, not him! Me! And yes, he acknowledged that and that was cool and all, but still...it stinks! Because he put me in a very difficult position because we were supposed to watch a lot of movies and make fun of Godfather 3 and the thing that I really, really hate about this is...is the idea of you not hanging out with me because you're hanging out there with your stupid stepmother!" She exclaimed.

"You're calling Sherry our stepmother?" Lily smirked.

"Well, she practically is." She said.

"You're wigging." Rory said.

"Yeah, if Sherry is practically our stepmother then Luke is practically our stepfather." Lily pointed out. "Does dad know that Luke might be moving in?"

"What? No! Why would he know that?" Lorelai said.

"Well, because obviously he must have told you that Sherry had moved in with him. Wouldn't it be natural for you to tell him that Luke might be moving in?" She said.

"There's no point. He would just get weird about it." She said.

"Like you are now, you mean." Rory teased.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you're jealous of Sherry." Rory said.

"Oh definitely!" Lily nodded.

"Ha, I'm not jealous of Sherry." She defended.

"But I understand, your territory has been threatened." Rory nodded solemnly.

"Excuse me?"

"But relax, there are ways to work through situations like this, compromises can be struck." She continued.

"Oh, what are you saying?" Lorelai said.

"Well, you know, we can still call you Mom and we'll call her Mommy Sherry." Rory grinned.

"Don't be mean." She pouted.

"Yeah, and we can split up holidays evenly. Like, we'll be with you on Labor Day..." Lily grinned, playing along.

"Ok fine." She said getting the point.

"...her on Memorial Day." Rory smirked.

"Enough." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"We'll have to find out about her religion though to see how Chanukah will factor into this, unless you want to convert to Judaism and then take over Chanukah for yourself." Lily joked.

"I get the point. I overreacted. Please stop." She sighed.

"You totally overreacted. God!" Rory said.

Lorelai glanced at her daughters. "So do you think you're going to go and stay with them?" She asked cautiously.

"I need to think about it." Rory said.

"Same." Lily said.

"Do you have to think about it because you know that it's killing me not to know whether you're going or not and you want to torture me like that?" She said.

"Nope, I just don't know if I want to do it." She shrugged.

"Me neither." Lily said.

"Oh." Lorelai said slightly surprised. "Ok."

"It was nice of him to ask though." Rory commented.

"It was very nice." Lorelai conceded.

"Right, I'm going to call Grandma and Grandpa and invite them." Lily said getting up.

* * *

Soon it was the evening of the Bracebridge dinner and Lorelai had just announced that there will be horse and carriage rides outside the inn for everyone. Lily smiled as she saw her mom drag Luke outside under duress. She then smiled when she saw Rory talking to Paris, who had turned up unannounced but she thought it was nice of Rory to invite her to stay, and obviously asking her if she wanted a ride but Paris declined. She watched as her sister walked outside. She glanced over at Jess who was sat on one of the couches with a book. She wandered over to him. "A horse and carriage ride not your thing then huh?" She said.

Jess looked up and smirked slightly. "I thought I'd wait for the clog dancing." He said dryly.

"Now that I would love to see!" Lily laughed.

"You heading out then?" He asked.

"Uh hello, it's a horse and carriage ride in the snow, what do you think?" She exclaimed.

"You're so weird about the snow." He said.

"No, you're the weird one. How can you not like snow?" Lily said.

"It's cold." Jess said.

"Nice observation." She smirked.

"Plus why would I want to go on one of these with one of these crazy people?" He said.

"I'm sure Miss Patty would love it." She teased.

"Point proven." Jess said.

"Ok fair enough." Lily smirked. "So..how come you're not going home then?" She asked.

"What?"

"Well, you go on about how you hate this town and everyone here. So why don't you go home?" She said.

Jess was quiet for a moment. "Because my mom didn't want me to." He said.

"What?" She said surprised.

"Luke made out that she really wanted me to go back but he thought since I'd just moved here that I should spend it here with me." He said. "It wasn't his decision. I bet you my mom didn't even call."

"I'm sorry." Lily said sympathetically.

Jess just shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me." He said.

"You know, our mom finally told us the other day that our dad had called and invited us to spend some of the Christmas break with him and his new girlfriend." She said.

"Huh. Are you going?"

"I don't think so. I mean, it's cool that he invited us and stuff but it's the first time he has and mom, Rory and I have all these traditions we do together at this time. It just...it feels a bit too little, too late, you know?" She said. "He's never asked us before and now suddenly he wants us to spend Christmas with him. It's just...I don't know." She shrugged.

"I get it." Jess said. "You're thinking why he didn't do this sooner, why it took him 17 years to want to spend Christmas with you."

"Pretty much." Lily said. "I know Rory was properly thinking about it but I think even she's leaning towards staying here."

"You should do what you want to do." He said, glancing at her. "And hey, if you're around, it might make my time here over the break slightly more enjoyable."

"Aw Jess, was that actually a compliment?" She teased.

"Nope." He said.

"I think it was." She grinned.

"Isn't there a horse and carriage waiting for you?"

"Oh crap, yeah! I hope I haven't missed them!" She exclaimed. "See you later, neighbour!"

"Yeah, see ya." Jess said smirking slightly, watching her race off.

* * *

"So this is nice..." Lorelai smiled and she snuggled close to Luke in their horse and carriage.

"Yeah it is." He smiled. He glanced at her. "I've missed seeing you. You've been spending so much time preparing for tonight."

"Tell me about it!" She groaned. "But I'm glad we managed to do it even if it wasn't exactly what we planned." She smiled at him. "And thanks for coming." She said softly.

"Anything to spend some time with you." Luke smiled softly. They watched their surroundings for a moment before he glanced at her. "So I spoke to Jess about me moving in..." He said.

"Oh yeah?" Lorelai said glancing at him. "Let me guess, he said he didn't want to."

"He said I should do what I want and not to worry about him." He said.

"Doesn't he get that you're his guardian? That's your job." She shook her head. "So I'm guessing it's a no then."

Luke frowned at her. "No, I think it was his way of saying we can do it." He said. "You know, he is trying..."

Lorelai sighed. "I'm sorry. I just...well, you know..."

"You know his mom didn't even call. You'd think she'd want to spend Christmas break with him but not one call!" He said.

"That makes me sick." Lorelai frowned, weirdly feeling a little sorry for Jess. "Does Jess know?"

"I made out I wanted him to stay here and it was my decision but...I don't know. I feel like he knew..." Luke sighed. "I know he comes across as this angry kid but he's had it tough. I think him fixing the toaster in the diner and him telling me I should move in with you was his way of offering an olive branch..."

"Maybe..." Lorelai said but she wasn't convinced.

"He said he'd stay at the apartment. I'm a bit concerned about that but I just really don't want to push him into moving into your house with us. I know he gets on with Rory and Lily but I still think it would be too much for him." He admitted.

"Probably." She said diplomatically, even though she was secretly glad. She couldn't even think about Jess being in the same house as Lily. She saw the way he looked at her.

"Do you think that makes me awful? Letting him stay in the apartment alone when I move in with my girlfriend? Does that make me an awful person? An terrible guardian?" Luke worried.

"Luke, no." Lorelai said softly. "It would make you terrible if you didn't talk to Jess about it but you obviously have and if he says he's ok with it..."

"Yeah..." Luke sighed.

A smile appeared on Lorelai's face. "So is this finally it? Are we actually going to move in together?" She said.

Luke smiled at her. "You still want to?" He asked.

"Of course!"

"Then...yeah, I think we're finally going to do it." He smiled softly.

Lorelai grinned and leaned forward to kiss him. "I can't wait." She said softly.

"Me neither." He said.

* * *

Rory was riding along his her horse and carriage when suddenly Lily jumped in and sat next to her. "What are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"I heard it was two to a sleigh, no more, no less. You were breaking the rules." Lily grinned.

"You could have hurt yourself." Rory said.

"I live on the edge." She shrugged. "Besides, I was talking to Jess and I would be damned if I had missed one of these rides." She said.

"You were talking to Jess?"

"Yep."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with him." She commented.

"Yeah. So?" Lily frowned.

"Hey, I'm not judging." Rory said putting her hands up in mock surrender. "I'm just observing."

Lily sighed. "He's really not as bad as mom makes out. I know she thinks he's the devil incarnate but I see a side of him that she doesn't see. That noone sees." She said.

"I know. I've seen it too, briefly." Rory nodded. "I guess it must be hard for him, having to be uprooted here and not knowing anyone."

"Exactly! And you know his mom didn't even call to ask if he wanted to go back during his break?" She exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Rory said surprised.

"Yeah! I mean, who does that? I don't get it at all." Lily said.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "At least dad asked..."

Lily sighed. "Yeah." She said. "It took a while but finally..."

"Yeah." Rory said.

"Hey, so I passed mom and Luke on the way to finding you and I'm sure I heard them talking about finally moving in together?" Lily grinned.

"Really?" Rory grinned.

"Yep! They're finally doing it! About time, huh?"

"Definitely!" She nodded.

Lily smiled. "It will be cool to have Luke finally officially part of the family. I mean I know he practically lives there anyway but it will be nice to have him around the whole time. Like in the mornings and evenings." She said.

"Yeah, it will be." Rory agreed.

Lily let out a contented sighed. "Life's pretty good right now, isn't it?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah, it is." She said softly.

* * *

"I'm going to try and find Grandma." Lily said later that evening. Their Grandma had stormed into their room saying that she couldn't possibly sleep in the same room as their Grandpa who had announced at the dinner that he had retired from his job, out of the blue. Everyone was shocked. Their Grandma had laid in the bed in their room for only seconds before announcing she needed a walk and then subsequently leaving.

"She'll be fine, hon." Lorelai assured her.

"I know. But she was upset and it's dark. I just want to make sure she's ok." Lily said getting up. "I'll come straight back, I promise."

"Ok sweets. But don't be long ok?" She said.

"Ok." Lily said before leaving their room and heading downstairs in the inn. She walked through the rooms and finally found her Grandma in the library on one of the couches. She peeked round the door to see she wasn't alone and that her Grandpa was sat next to her. She smiled softly as she saw them join hands and slowly get up and head off together. She started heading back to the stairs when she saw Jess coming down the stairs dressed in his jacket. "Making an escape?" She joked.

"What are you doing up?" He said surprised.

"I was on a Grandma hunt." She said.

"Ah." He said. "They make up?" He asked.

"Seems like it. Thankfully." She smiled.

"Good." He said.

"So where are you off to?"

"Just going for a walk." Jess said.

"In the snow?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "I thought you hated the snow. And you expect me to believe that you want a midnight stroll in the snow?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? You must have converted me." He said.

"Uh huh, sure." She said not believing him one bit.

"Want to join me?" Jess asked.

"I would love to but my mom would probably send out a search party..." She joked.

"Ah." He said.

"Have a nice walk." She smirked.

"Thanks." He said before leaving.

Lily just shook her head, not wanting to know what sort of mischief he was up to, before heading back upstairs.

* * *

"Are we coming to get our bags later?" Rory asked once all the guests had left the following morning.

"Why?" Lorelai said.

"Because we're walking home. I don't want to carry them." Rory said.

"Who says we're walking?" She grinned as she led them to a horse-drawn sleigh outside waiting for them and soon they were riding through Stars Hollow. "This is the only way to ride." She smiled.

"I wholeheartedly agree." Rory said.

"Me too!" Lily grinned.

"Whoa, what happened there?" Lorelai asked seeing that the elaborate overdone snowman has been smashed.

Lily thought back to seeing Jess at midnight before heading back up to her room and smirked slightly. "I have no idea." She said innocently.

"Bad news for ringer guy." Lorelai said. "But guess who wins by default?" She grinned.

"I guess that would be us." Rory grinned.

"Yay!" Lily grinned as they rode on. She saw Rory looking at her. "What?"

"You know nothing about the vandalism huh?" She asked.

"What? It wasn't me." She said.

"And you didn't see anyone when you were on your wanders last night?" Rory raised her eyebrows.

"I plead the fifth." She grinned.

"Thought so." Rory smirked.

**So I hope you liked it! Please do let me know what you think as I do love reading your reviews and they really do motivate me! :) Thanks you again for your continued support! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for your continued support! Just to say, I'm changing up the timeline a little bit! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 5

"I can't believe I agreed to go to a spa with my mother!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You'll be fine." Rory said.

"I'm sorry, did you hear me correctly? I am spending a weekend with my mother. At a spa!" She said.

"You'll survive, mom." Lily laughed.

"Yeah but he tricked me! And now I'm missing the first weekend of Luke moving in!" She exclaimed.

"You scared we'll scare him off?" Lily smirked.

"No. I just...it sucks!" Lorelai pouted.

"Are you going to stop whingeing and actually help me?" Luke said bringing some boxes up the porch steps, raising his eyebrows at them as they were sat on the porch swing.

"Nah, I think you have it covered." Lorelai grinned up at him.

"Figured." Luke rolled his eyes and headed inside.

Lorelai turned to her daughters. "So are you sure you will be ok with Luke being here this weekend without me?"

"You're not using that excuse to get out of the spa weekend." Rory quipped.

"No, I'm being serious. This is a big step to all of us. I just wanted to make sure you're ok with it." She said.

"We'll be fine, mom." Lily assured her. "We already have a plan to introduce him to our movie night." She grinned.

"What? Without me?" Lorelai exclaimed in mock horror.

"Well...you did agree to a weekend away with Grandma." Rory smirked.

"Hey, is it too late to find two other daughters?" She joked.

Lily grinned. "We're fine with it, mom. Honestly." She assured her. "And at least try to have fun with Grandma. She's never invited you to something like this before. She obviously wants to spend time with you."

"Yeah mom, promise us you'll try." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. "Fine." She said. "What's he doing here?" She asked suddenly as Jess appeared.

"Good, you're here. These three are no help at all. Grab those boxes and bring them in for me, will you?" Luke said appearing from inside the house and walking down the steps to greet Jess.

"This is what you dragged me here to do?" Jess said. "Bye." He said turning around.

"Hey, I'll help!" Lily said jumping up and heading towards them.

"Huh." Lorelai said.

"What?" Rory said.

"A second ago, she was totally on our side. And now, Jess appears, and she can't be more helpful..." Lorelai said.

"Mom..." Rory sighed.

"What?"

"They're friends. You're going to have to get over it. I mean, Jess isn't going anywhere." Rory pointed out.

"Unfortunately." She mumbled under her breath. "Is Jess coming round this weekend?" She asked suddenly.

"What? I don't know, why?"

"I thought it was just going to be you two and Luke."

"Well...Jess is Luke's nephew. Luke might invite him over for food. You know what Luke is like..." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. She knew Luke still felt bad about leaving Jess in the apartment by himself. She could totally see him inviting him over to make sure he ate. "I guess..." She conceded. "I just..." She said watching Lily laugh with Jess and apparently manage to get him to stay and help when she saw Jess eventually picking up a box. "I just have a bad feeling about this..." She admitted.

* * *

The following evening, Rory was on the phone on the couch with Lily.

"No, that's four orders of garlic gnon, six simosas, and two chicken vindaloos. And two portions of rice, and the green sauce, and no salad." She was saying. "Hang on a minute..." She said. "Hey Luke, you sure you don't want anything?"

"No I'm good." Luke said.

"What about Jess?" Rory said.

"He said he'd bring some stuff round for me and him." Luke said.

"Ok!" She smiled. "No that's it, thanks." She said into the phone before hanging up. "It will be forty minutes." She told Lily.

"Yes!" Lily thrust her fist in the air. "Mom never lets us order Indian food when she's here." She grinned at Luke. "You rock!"

"Glad to be of service." He said dryly as the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Lily answered.

"Hey! Thank god!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Hey mom!" She grinned. "How's the spa?"

"Tranquil." She said.

"Really?"

"I wasn't done. Tranquilizers..uh..will be required if I have to spend one more minute with my mother." She said.

"Please tell me you're at least trying to get along with her?" Lily rolled her eyes at Rory who just shook her head.

"Oh, hey, I'm being a peach."

"Really?" Lily said unconvinced.

"Well, I smell like a peach. Was that the doorbell?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's probably Jess." She said.

"Oh." Lorelai said her tone changing.

"Look, mom, I know this isn't the weekend you were planning but Grandma obviously wanted to spend it with you. Why don't you actually try talking to her? Tell her about things...your life..." Lily said.

"You mean Luke." Lorelai said.

"Well why not?" Lily said.

"Lil, they're not exactly thrilled I'm dating him. If they find out he's moving in, they'll find a way to ruin it."

"Mom..."

"Trust me, Lily."

"Fine." Lily sighed. "I have to go. I'll call you later."

"No wait, I want to find out who's at the door." She said.

"I told you, it's probably..." Lily started saying but stopped when she saw who it was. "Oh..."

"What? "What's going on?"

"It's Paris." She said.

"What?" Lorelai laughed. "Why is Paris here?"

"I don't know." Lily said. "I'll call you later."

"Fine." Lorelai sighed. "I love you."

"Love you too. Bye mom." She said hanging up and watched amused as Rory was having a debate with Paris.

"I can't study with you, Paris. I've got plans." Rory sighed.

"I can see that." Paris narrowed her eyes. "Who's that?" She said looking at Luke who squirmed under her penetrating gaze.

"Luke." Rory said. "He's our mom's partner. He's just moved in."

"Yeah, we're introducing him to our traditional movie night. Our mom is out of town so..." Lily said.

"You mean you never get to go months on end without seeing your parents, just getting an occasional postcard that doesn't even have a courtesy "Wish you were here" written on it? That does suck. Don't let me stand in your way." Paris snapped, turning round.

"Paris, wait." Rory sighed.

"No, forget it, I don't want to get in the way of your big night." She said.

"Fine, I'll study with you." She relented.

"You will?" Paris' face lit up.

"You will?" Lily said surprised.

"For one hour, that's it. We can do a quick review and a pop quiz and then you are going home. Deal?" Rory said.

"Deal." Paris nodded.

"Ok, so, come on then. We can do it in my bedroom." She said and led Paris to her room.

Lily sighed and glanced at Luke. "So I guess our evening is delayed a little bit." She said.

"So that is Paris huh?" Luke said.

"Yep."

"Intense." He commented.

"Oh yeah." Lily laughed. "But...I think in a weird way, they're kind of friends. I know Paris challenges Rory and Rory definitely challenges Paris. I feel it could be good for both of them."

"You're probably right."

"Hey, so I actually wanted to talk to you about something..." Luke said.

"Yeah?"

"Ok, look, I wanted to ask you a favour." He admitted. "I was..uh..wondering if you could tutor Jess."

"What?" Lily said surprised.

"He's not doing too well in school. The principal said he's not going to let him move on unless something changes. I was wondering if you could help." Luke said.

"Luke, I tell him he needs to go to classes. I tell him daily. I don't know what else I can do." Lily said.

"I know and I appreciate that. I just...you and Rory are the only people he seems to listen to. He likes you two. Look, I don't expect you to work miracles and it doesn't have to be a full time everyday thing. If you could just get him through a couple of his next tests, maybe make the school see that he can do it, that would probably help out a lot." He said.

Lily sighed but looked at Luke's desperate face. "Sure." She found herself agreeing.

"Great." He said letting out a breath. "Seriously, thank you. How about tomorrow?"

"Sure." Lily said.

"I really appreciate this. Really." He said gratefully.

"It's no problem." Lily said as the doorbell rang. "That's probably him." She said getting up.

"Hey, can you not mention it to him tonight? I'll tell him tomorrow." Luke said.

"Ok." She said heading to the door and opening it. "Hey." She smiled at Jess who was holding a huge box.

"Delivery." He said.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Lily said.

"Luke told me to bring food." Jess said.

"Yeah, for him and you. Rory ordered me and her Sandeep's." She said.

"Really? Planning on burning down the house afterwards?" He joked.

"You and my mom are more alike than you think." Lily joked.

"What?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on in." She said. "You can bring it in here." She said leading him through to the kitchen. "God, seriously how much food is in there? This could feed twelve." She laughed.

"So? You're telling me you'd say no to leftover Luke's?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"You did this deliberately." Lily realised.

"What? No." He said.

"Yeah you did! You knew we love Luke's food so you brought more so we could have some." Lily grinned.

"Please." Jess scoffed. "Luke's going to be living here. He can cook you this food whenever." He said.

"So?" She said.

"I brought this for me and Luke." He said.

"Uh huh."

"I did." Jess insisted.

"Sure." Lily teased.

"Whatever." He said putting it down.

"I think it's sweet." Lily smiled.

"What?"

"You making sure we have food. You know mom's away until tomorrow evening and Luke will be working during the day so you figured we'd need food. I think it's sweet you're looking out for us." She said.

"I brought this for me and Luke."

"Yeah and since when do you two eat this much?" Lily said.

Jess floundered. "Well..."

"I knew it!" Lily grinned triumphantly. "Welcome to the family, Dodger."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Seriously though. Thanks." She smiled.

Jess glanced up at her for a moment, their eyes locking. "Sure." He said.

Lily smiled at him, their eyes still locked.

"Hey! Oh hey, Jess!" Rory said coming out of her room, bringing them both out of their daze.

"Hey." Jess said, avoiding Lily's gaze.

"Wow, you brought lots of food! We can have this tomorrow!" She grinned at Lily.

"Just what I was saying." Lily smirked. "You two finished?"

"Not yet. But soon." Rory said.

"You should invite Paris to stay."

"What?" Rory said surprised.

"Come on, Rory. She came over here on a Saturday evening. She obviously had nothing else to do. You should invite her to stay." She said.

Rory sighed. "Yeah alright."

"Great! Hurry up and then we can start this movie night." Lily said.

"We'll be out soon." She promised disappearing back into her room.

"Are you ready for the Gilmore movie night?" She grinned at Jess.

"Geez, I'm so going to regret coming over, aren't I?" He said dryly.

"Nope! You're going to love it!" She grinned.

"Uh huh. Sure." He said not convinced, following Lily back into the living room.

* * *

The following evening, Rory, Lily and Lorelai were sat in the diner. "I still can't believe you and Grandma stole bathrobes!" Lily laughed.

"I know! I was surprised too. But hey, you were right, the talking thing was actually nice." She shrugged.

"Well I am very wise." Lily nodded solemnly.

"Did you tell her about Luke?" Rory asked.

Lorelai avoided their gaze. "I didn't have time."

"Chicken." Lily said.

"I will. I just...want to enjoy it a bit first. Is that so bad?" She said.

Lily sighed. "No, I guess not." She said.

"So I hear you had kind of a slumber party last night..." Lorelai said casually.

"Oh yeah, it was getting late so I told Paris she could stay the night. That's ok right?" Rory said.

"What? Oh yeah, of course! I'm glad you two seem to be getting on now." She said. "So was there anyone else?" She asked.

"Anyone else? What do you mean?" Lily said.

"A little bird told me Jess stayed over..." She said casually.

"Oh yeah, well, he came for the movie night so..." Lily said.

"So...?"

"Luke said he could stay over. Why?" She frowned.

"Oh no reason. I'm just surprised Jess wanted to, that's all." Lorelai said.

"Yeah...well...it just made sense." Lily said.

"So you're both staying to help Jess tonight huh?"

"Yeah, I thought Rory might be of use." Lily said.

"Gee thanks." Rory said sarcastically.

Lily grinned. "You know what I mean. I mean, I'm flattered Luke asked me to tutor Jess but I'm just surprised. Rory's way smarter than me. I mean, she goes to Chilton." She said.

"You're both smart." Lorelai said loyally.

"Yeah but Rory's smarter." Lily said.

"We won't be long." Rory promised. "Probably two hours tops."

"Hmm ok." Lorelai said. "Let me know when you've finished."

"We will." Lily said.

Lorelai nodded, glanced over at Jess suspiciously who was hovering at the counter before turning round and walking out.

* * *

"I'm sick of studying." Jess said about an hour later.

"How can you be sick of studying? You haven't done any studying." Lily laughed.

"Yeah, you've done card tricks, you've made coffee, you've tried to explain to me how on earth Coldplay could be considered an alternative band, but as of yet, no studying." Rory nodded in agreement.

"Is that your car?" Jess asked gesturing outside.

"It's shared." Lily said.

"Ok, tell you what. Let's go get some ice cream and then when we get back, I'll study." He said.

"This is a diner, there's ice cream here." Rory pointed out.

"Yes, but we don't have any cones." Jess said.

"Cones?"

"I need cones." He nodded.

"Cones are the best." Lily agreed.

Rory sighed. "We're meant to be studying. Mom will go mad..." She told Lily.

Lily sighed. She glanced at Jess. "You promise you will study if we go get ice cream?" She said.

"Cross my heart." He nodded solemnly.

"Why do I not believe you?" Lily smirked slightly.

"Because you know me best." Jess smirked, causing Lily to blush slightly.

"You know, you could be the brightest student at the school if you actually did the work." Lily said.

"Yeah but what's the point if I don't want to go to college?" Jess shrugged.

"You don't want to go to college?" She said surprised.

"Nope." He said. "What, you going to tell me I should? That I could actually make something of my life?"

"Well, you could." Lily said. "But no, I'd never force you to go."

"You wouldn't?" He said surprised.

"Well, if it's not for you, then it's your choice. Only you know what would be good for you. I mean, I think you'd do great but...it's not my choice." She shrugged.

"Huh." Jess said.

"So what are we doing then? Are we going for ice cream?" Rory said.

"How about you two go and I'll stay here and work on what we can do for the last bit of the tutoring session?" Lily suggested.

"Seriously?" Jess said raising his eyebrows.

"Hey, Luke trusted me with this. I'm not going to let him down." Lily said. She glanced at him. "You promise you'll study when you get back."

"I promise." He said.

"Good. Now go get us ice cream." She said smirking slightly.

"Your wish is my command." Jess smirked.

Lily shook her head and watched Jess and Rory leave but she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face when Jess glanced back and smirked before getting in the car.

* * *

"Rory! Thank god! Are you ok?" She exclaimed, rushing into a hospital room later that night.

"I'm fine." Rory assured her.

"Where's Jess?" Lily asked looking round.

"Seriously?" Lorelai turned on her daughter.

"What? He was with her! Was he hurt too?" She asked Rory.

"No. He was fine." Rory said.

"Great. So that punk injured you and got off scot free?" Lorelai said angrily.

"Mom, he waited until the ambulance came. It wasn't his fault." Rory said quietly.

"Was he driving the car?" She said.

"Well...yeah..."

"Then it's his fault!"

"It was an accident! Jess felt awful!"

"Well he'll feel worse when I get my hands on him!" Lorelai exclaimed angrily.

"Hey! I can hear you shouting from out there! What's going on?" Luke said rushing into the room in a panic.

"Oh let's see. Your nephew forced my daughters to let him go get them ice cream and look what happened!" She snapped gesturing to Rory's arm which was in a cast.

"It's only a fracture..." Rory said quietly.

"Are you ok?" Luke glanced at Rory. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts!" Lorelai exclaimed. "He broke her wrist!"

"It's fine." Rory told Luke. "It wasn't his fault."

"Rory!"

"Where is he?" Lily asked.

"I don't know." Rory said honestly. "He waited until the ambulance came and then disappeared." She said.

"I need to go find him." Lily said.

"You're going nowhere near him!" Lorelai exclaimed aghast.

"Mom, this was obviously an accident! I was the one who told them to get ice cream so if it's anyone's fault, it's mine!" Lily said. She glanced at Rory. "You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine." She assured her sister. "Go find Jess. Tell him I don't blame him ok?"

Lily nodded. "I'll see you later."

"Lily!" Lorelai shouted after her. She turned on Luke. "You did this! You brought him into the town and now look what he's done! I tried to warn you something like this would happen!"

"How has this become my fault?" Luke said confused.

"Because he's your nephew! You forced them to tutor him and now look!"

"Mom!" Rory tried.

"No! He hurt you, Rory! I get to hate him!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I can't believe you care more about him right now than my daughters!"

Luke took a deep breath. "You're ok?" He asked Rory.

"I'm ok." She nodded. "Honestly, Luke, it wasn't Jess' fault." She said.

Luke just nodded. "I need to go."

"Luke!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I'll see you later." Luke said gruffly before leaving.

* * *

Later that night, Lily was walking round the town trying to find Jess. She suddenly saw her car being towed which was pretty badly smashed up. She then suddenly saw her mom and Luke screaming in the square at each other.

"Go to hell!" Lorelai screamed.

"Right back at you!" Luke shouted back angrily.

Lily watched as Lorelai turned round and saw her.

"Lil..." Lorelai said quietly.

Lily just shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, before rushing up. A while later, she was walking along the bridge and she suddenly spotted a familiar figure sat hunched over the side. She slowly walked over to him. "Mind if I sit?" She asked.

Jess glanced up and just shrugged.

Lily sat down next to him. "Rory's ok." She told him.

"I made sure she was. I waited until the ambulance came." He said gruffly.

Lily glanced at him, hearing the emotion in his voice. "I know." She said. "Rory told us."

Jess just nodded.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

Jess just shook his head.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"An animal ran out into the road. I tried to swerve and...well, you know the rest..." He said.

"It was an accident." Lily said softly. "Rory doesn't blame you. Neither do I."

Jess glanced at her. "The whole town will though. I can't imagine what your mom thinks about me right now." He said.

Lily sighed. "It wasn't your fault. I wanted the ice cream as well. It could have happened to anyone of us driving." She said.

"I'm going to have to go home, aren't I?" Jess mumbled.

"What?"

"Well I can't stay here now, can I? There would be a lynch mob after me." He said.

"Luke wouldn't just send you home..."

"He might not have a choice. I've been enough of a hassle on him. He can't keep me here now." Jess sighed.

Lily glanced at him and she could see this had shaken him. "They can't just banish you. That's not fair..."

"Why not? It's not like anyone would care." He said gruffly.

"I would." She said quietly, glancing across the water.

Jess glanced at her. "You know, when I first came here, I thought if I acted up, I wouldn't have to stay here anymore..." He admitted. "But...then I met you and I knew..."

"You knew what?" Lily said.

"That I didn't want to go home." Jess admitted. "But I guess I've screwed that up now. Like I screw everything up."

Lily felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't trust herself to speak so she just reached over and put her hand over his hand, which was resting on the bridge. She saw Jess glance over at her so she interlocked her fingers with his. "I don't want you to go." She finally admitted.

"I don't either." He admitted.

Lily finally looked over at him and suddenly she felt their faces start to lean towards each other when suddenly they heard footsteps coming up the bridge and they jumped apart. She looked up and saw Luke there. "Luke..."

"You should get home..." He said.

"It wasn't his fault." Lily said quietly.

Luke glanced at her and then his nephew, who was avoiding his gaze, and then back at her. "I know it wasn't." He said softly.

Lily gave him a small smile and nodded. She stood up and glanced at Jess. "I'll..uh...good luck yeah?" She said.

Jess looked up at her and nodded. "You too." He said gruffly. He sighed as he watched her walk away before finally glancing at his uncle. "I'm going home, aren't I?" He said.

Luke sighed. "This isn't how I wanted it to end. I hope you know that." He said.

Jess glanced at him and could see the anguish on his face. "I know." He said quietly. "But...you have to do it..."

"I'm sorry." Luke said.

"It's fine." Jess said. "I don't blame you."

Luke looked at him. "You always have me ok? You need anything, I'm here. This isn't the end of you and me. I just..."

"I know." Jess said understanding. "Hey..uh..can you give this back to Lily for me? She lent it to me a while ago." He said handing him a book.

"Oh..uh..sure." He said.

Jess glanced at him. "Are you and Lorelai ok?" He asked cautiously.

Luke sighed. "I don't know." He answered honestly.

"I'm sorry." Jess said quietly.

Luke looked at him in surprise. He had never heard his nephew apologise before. "You don't have to apologise..."

"I do. I've made your life hell..."

"Jess..."

"Thank you." He said suddenly. "For...uh...for trying."

Luke sighed and put his arm round his nephew and pulled him close. "I'm always going to be here for you, ok?"

"Ok." He said quietly.

* * *

Lorelai, Lily and Rory were sat on the couch when Luke came into the house a while later. "Luke!" Lorelai said getting up.

Luke just looked at her and shook his head. "Don't." He said.

"But..." Lorelai said.

"I can't do this right now." Luke said. He glanced at Lily. "He wanted me to give you this back." He said handing him the book.

"What?" Lily said looking at the book. She looked up at Luke. "He's...gone?"

Luke just nodded. "Yeah. He..uh..he's getting a bus now. He didn't want me waiting with him." He said glancing at Lorelai before heading upstairs without saying a word.

Lily looked down at the book, shocked. She opened it up and was surprised to see Jess' familiar scrawl in the front page. _Thanks for believing in me. I won't forget it. J x _She read. She felt tears in her eyes before rushing out of the house. She could hear her mom calling after her but she didn't care. She ran to the bus station and hoped he would still be there. She saw a bus coming round the corner and she saw a familiar figure stand up. "Jess!" She shouted.

Jess glanced over at her in surprise. "Lily? What are you...?" He started saying before Lily ran towards him, dropping the book on the bench and kissing him. He pulled her close as he reciprocated the action before slowly pulling away. "Lily..."

"You can't go. Please don't go." Lily said.

"I have to." He said.

"You don't! The town will forget about this in a week. Please?" Lily begged.

Jess wasn't one to show emotions but he felt his eyes become wet. "Lily, please..."

"What?"

"Please just go." Jess said.

"What?" She said shocked.

"If you stay here, I won't get on the bus. And...I can't be here. I can't screw up your and Luke's life anymore than I have." Jess said gruffly.

"But..." Lily said.

Jess sighed and pulled her close, kissing her again. "I'll call you ok?"

"Jess..." She said tearfully.

"I need to go." He said reluctantly. "I...I'm sorry." He said before boarding the bus.

Lily watched as Jess found a seat on the bus and sat by the window. She looked up at him and their eyes locked, before the bus drove off and disappeared from sight. Lily collapsed down on the bench and picked up the book that she had dropped. She felt tears fall down her cheeks but this time, she didn't bother wiping them away.

**So quite an eventful chapter! I've had this planned for quite a while so I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. Thank you again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me! :)**


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